During World War, this modern-day term for a box-office hit had a sobering definition: a bomb big enough to take out most of a city block.
2. Cup of Joe
When Josephus Daniels was appointed secretary of the Navy in 1915. He abolished alcohol from military ships. Legend has it that sailors began to refer to the hardest drink available to them -coffee-as a cup of Joe.
3. Deadline
Now a synonym for a due date. Deadline was originally used much more literally during the Civil War, POWS were confined and surrounded by a deadline so-called because if a prisoner was to cross it, he could be rightly shot dead.
4. Grunt Work
During the Vietnam War American infantrymen took to calling one another 'grunts'.One likely theory says grunt refers to the sound a soldier made when pic up heavy combat gear, another (less likely) it was an acronym for 'general rifleman, usually not trained'. In any case, grunt work became synonymous with tedious, thankless labour.
5. Loose Cannon
Theodore Roosevelt told a journalist he didn't want to be "the old cannon loose on the deck in the storm". He referenced time before fixed-turret guns when ship cannons were mounted on wheels to roll between ports. A loose cannon could break free in choppy waters, endangering sailors.
6. With Flying Colours
If a naval ship returned to its home port after a battle with its flags or 'colours' --still flying, that indicated victory. Today the phrase means to do something well.
Read More - Bored with old phrases? Check out new ones here
Written By - Adarsh Krishnaa V
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